Builds POTM - March, 2014 - Javelina By Pablo Cruise (3 Viewers)

[PabloCruise]

Did you take a picture of yourself after the under carriage cleaning? That had to have been one dirty job! It's bad enough doing it on a rotisserie. Thanks for the info on the seat belts. I'm getting really close to making a purchase for my pig. What have you decided to do with rear seat belts, retractable?

No pictures, but I was a mess! The wife and kid went to a festival that day, so they did not get home until after I was asleep. I showered up pretty well, except I had dots of undercoating stuck to my face/arms/legs. They thought it was pretty funny!

 

[PabloCruise]

The local paint supply store has been really helpful in my quest to get the 40 painted, so I trust them. The owner likes Evercoat vs. 3M. Says he has been carrying it over 20 years and it is $8/can less expensive than 3M. I guess I'll know in a few years!
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The paint store also carried a 3M "water based" undercoat product. No thanks...

 

[PabloCruise]

What have you decided to do with rear seat belts, retractable?

Right now the rears just have the 2-point lap belts. I was thinking about sticking the adjustable 3-points back there. I think the angle between where you would mount the retractor unit and where the shoulder mount might be steep over such a short run...

 

[PabloCruise]

In my mind, there are 3 ways to approach the fuel tank dilemma...

1. Find a replacement tank that fits my '74 and get it cleaned
2. Send my '74 tank over to Utah for a proper treatment and sealing
3. Embark on the creation of a custom tank w/ encouragement from @J Mack

Option 1 should be the least time & $, while option 3 would be the most.

Thanks to Ige @nuclearlemon , I am now able to pursue option 1. She did have a tank with the longer fill sub and the 4 vent lines in the same place as mine. I cleaned up that outside of the tank and took it to my local radiator shop to get boiled out and leak checked. Hope they will be finished with it next week.

Famous last words "Hope they will be finished with it next week." When I got back from my trip, I swung by the radiator shop to pick up the tank - not done. Hopefully this week!

 

[PabloCruise]

While the tank was out, this seemed like the right time to clean up the bottom of the Pig.
Make no mistake, my Pig is no frame-off resto unlike some of the stellar work exhibited in here. I really liked the look of these body mounts before I bought it, and the bottom is pretty darn clean. No matter how nice it was, the undercoating on the bottom was 40+ years old. When I dropped the tank, I took the pressure washer to the bottom and a bunch of debris came off. Last weekend I got serious about this effort and got after the bottom with a drill-mounted wire brush. Lots of debris rained down on me while I was struggling around under Pig on the creeper. Out came the pressure washer again - more debris falls off! Then a quick dry with compressed air - more debris. Wipe the bottom w/ wax and grease remover - more debris. Wipe the wax and grease remover dry - slightly less debris. Apply some Chassis Saver to what looks like some mild surface rust and go mess with the lawn for 3 hours. Finally shoot the fresh new undercoat and realize I should have bought 3 cans instead of 2!
When I get more undercoat I can do a before and after set of pics...

We already saw the before pics, and it was getting dark as I finished last night, so it was tough getting any kind of decent after pic...

 

[PabloCruise]

I thought I may as well stab some new shocks in the rear while the tank was out - Doetsch Tech 3231:

 

[PabloCruise]

About the only other thing going on is I am still pressing forward with the idea of reviving dealer installed AC in conjunction with the 3FE AC compressor. I cleaned up the compressor bracket I got and have been locating the hardware to use this. I found the bolts to mount the compressor to the bracket, and found a used tensioner bolt as the one that came with my bracket was actually rippled! Oye...

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I got to play around a little with the AC compressor bracket as well.

1st pic compares the messed up bolt that came with the bracket to what a local 3FE guy gave me (thanks Crash!)
2nd pic shows the reach of the tensioner with the shorter bolt - should be okay?
Next pic - mount is in place - just a mock up, but so far so good.
Next, I thought I would lay out the bolts by p/n in case anyone else is ever in my predicament. Turns out I got the top bolts switched - they are different lengths - but I was not going to pull the bracket for another photo.
Then - bolts used to bolt compressor to bracket.
Compressor no fit :-( I need to re-do my PS hoses to make room. Starting to get crowded over there!
With the bracket mounted up, I am wondering how difficult it will be to tension that belt!

 

[PabloCruise]

I thought we could attach more than 5 pics at a time w/ the new software!

Oh well...

As I was saying, compressor no fit :-( I need to re-do my PS hoses to make room. Starting to get crowded over there...
With the bracket mounted up, I am wondering how difficult it will be to tension that belt?!?

 

[PabloCruise]

Back at it!

As I was waiting for my replacement tank to be finished at the local radiator shop, I would work on the bottom of the Pig.
This required that I would move the old tank out of the way before I could back the Pig out of the garage.
One day as I was moving the old tank out, I noticed this crack on the top of the tank. No idea how I missed it so many times before, but this would explain why I would get a gassy smell at the back of the Pig.

 

[PabloCruise]

While I was pondering the crack in the top of my Pig's tank, I caught this quote from Jim in the "What Have You Done To Your Pig Today?" thread:

...and halfway through replacing the gas tank with a cleaned and refurbished one (old tank had a crack on the top). Still to go...buttoning up install of new tank...

When I asked him if the crack looked like mine (above):

Exactly like that. With a full tank, it allowed gas to drain into the depression on top of the tank and made for great smells. I'd had it repaired when I had the tank cleaned while building the Pig 5 years ago but it reappeared. I'm told it's a common failure due to stress as the tank is mounted solidly to the frame without any bushings to allow give. Luckily found a good tank which cleaned up nicely and pressure tested ok.

So now I am thinking if I can add some rubber bushings to the mount bolts so the tank can move a little bit independently of the frame?

These kind of flaws make me think about the wisdom of making an aluminum tank like @J Mack was encouraging me to do...

In the meantime, I stabbed the replacement tank in place and was able to get Miss Piggy back on the road -hooray! But that process of yanking the old tank and replacing with new is a whore-and-a-half job!

 

[PabloCruise]

I went to the radiator shop to pick up the tank after cleaning and when I picked it up, I heard a loose object in the tank! It sounded like the same object I could hear when I dropped the tank off. The owner of the shop was all concerned as he said the noise stopped, so he thought one of his guys got it out. So he went in active pursuit of the object as he said you find some goofy objects in tanks that can really mess with things. He said golf tees are the worst.

After a lot of shaking and rotating, the object turned out to be what looks like an old hose clamp from a gas fill hose. I am sure there is a story there somewhere!

 

[PabloCruise]

I took my tank home and got her ready to install. I realized I couldn't hang the tank in place the way it looked after I done so much to clean up the bottom of the Pig.
And here is where I start to ramble...
When I was a little kid, I made a ton of model cars. Maybe the volume of glue fumes explains the way I am today? Anyway, I always painted the gas tanks silver. I just thought the tank should be silver on a black undercarriage. So here was my chance on the Pig!
I go to Lowe's a lot at lunch time. My wife and I got our son a puppy, and in order to socialize him and expose him to all kinds of experiences, I take him to work when I can, and then take him to Lowes at lunch. Pup gets all kinds of exposure to noises, smells, forklifts, etc, and the people there just eat him up. Customers like him and the employees know him by name. One day when I was there at lunch, I saw Rustoleum's Bright Galvanizing Compound. It said it was suitable for bare metal, and would protect well against rust with all the zinc content. I thought I would try it...
I chucked up a wire wheel in the drill and removed anything I could, and then wiped down the tank with wax and grease remover, and then followed up with another wipe.
I like the way the tank came out, we'll see how the finish holds up! Since it shoots onto bare metal I figure touch up would be easy.

 

[PabloCruise]

Then time to install the sending unit with a new gasket.
The sending unit cleaned up well.
I had to clean out the holes in order to get a good feel for the machine screws. I ran a scribe, some brake clean, some Kroil, and finally a tap into the holes.
I think the tap size was 4mm x .7.

 

[PabloCruise]

Next up is fitting the hoses! Getting close...
I thought I better fit the vapor lines and the overflow line first before installing the tank based on what others have written about the process.
The tricky part was going to be the fill hose. I found a flexible 2" line that was reinforced suction line. I was nervous about getting this to fit over the 54mm fill lines. I filled a pyrex measuring cup with some boiling water and then submerged one end and let it sit. This worked well. I lubed the inside of the hose and the outside of the fill port with some hand cleaner and the hose slipped right on!
Whew! Victory!
So I did this to one end and left the hose on the fill port of the tank, and then used that end on the fill neck up by the fill port on the body and repeated the boiling water process for the end that would connect to the tank.
Based on that, I think we have another resource for those replacing fuel fill lines. It is a Parker Store product, see part number below in the image: S7219E2.
Of course, in between the time that I bought this fill hose and the install, I saw that the fillernecksupply.com website now has a 'super' 90 that should work and cost less than my solution. That's the way it goes!

 

[PabloCruise]

Installing the tank was a major PITA. I had to elevate the tank and get it close enough so that I could feed the vapor return lines and the over flow line in through rubberized piece that forms a boundary between the inside and the outside of the pig.
For the fill hose, I shoved it onto the port up at the gas cap after feeding it through the hole in the body. I was able to re-use the factory grommet over the new fill line to form the moisture boundary.
Once I got the tank in place, I fitted the fill line at the tank using the boiling water trick to allow the line to expand.
I got some JIS fasteners that I matched to what I think were the original fasteners. Now it turns out perhaps I should have gotten longer if I wish to put rubber bushings on the bolts to let the tank move separately from the frame. Why do things once, when you can do them twice?

 

[PabloCruise]

It took 23 gallons to fill the tank. I went to the gas station with the lawnmower gas can and got exactly 2 gallons. I was so proud of how exact I got the volume. I wondered if 2 gallons in a completely empty tank would be enough fuel that the Pig would start?
Pig would not start!
So back to the gas station with the lawnmower can for another 2 gallons.
Pig would not start! Dude...
I am moving the Pig around up and downhill to see what I need to do to see fuel in the clear plastic pre-filter and nothing! I can hear the pump. I go back the as station with the lawnmower can for another 2 gallons, and this time I am going to pull the line off the tank that the pump pulls from and submerge the end in the gasoline. I do this and no fill. Serious?!? I remember when I went to hook up the electric fuel pump that I referred back to my pictures, but that picture was a little unclear. I look closely at the pump and I can make out little tiny "+" and "-" signs.
First I think, "Damn, do I need glasses?"
Then I think, "Damn, I hooked the pump up backwards, hope I didn't cook it."
I hooked up the pump correctly, and when my wife turned the key, the pump immediately filled the clear filter with gas!
So much for my experiment to see if the Pig would fire on 2 gallons of gas. Oh well. At this point the day is done, it is dark, work and school beckon tomorrow morning, so that is all for the night.
The next night I load the pup in the Pig and head off to the gas station. 17.017 gallons later and the tank is full! I notice that the gauge does not go all the to FULL, but I can handle it. Next time I feel like huffing gas fumes, I will pull the sender and see if it needs to be bent.
I take off for a 50+ mile drive that night. I pull over a few times to check for leaks and find none.

Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut!

 

[PabloCruise]

Glamour shot!

I thought the Pig looked great with her new tank. Kind of like when you buy your special lady some nice panties and she looks hot in them!

Maybe not...

Maybe that is not a good analogy...

Just forget I said anything...

 

[PabloCruise]

Thanks for letting me ramble today, it felt good. Last night we ended up at the emergency clinic saying good bye to our trusty old Border Collie mix. Not a good night. Today started with more tears as well, so I stayed home with my wife and son.
Goodbye Sheppy, and thank you for being such a good dog to our family.
It felt good to write and think about next steps.
I think I need to get a better tailpipe that fits my Pig like Ron's/ @scrapdaddy .

 

[PabloCruise]

Glamour shot!

View attachment 1138788

Back to this, I deleted the spare tire carrier from the cross-member because sometimes I could hear it swinging around, and I had no room for a spare with the existing exhaust routing. There is a nice custom exhaust shop in town that I am sure could come up with a more elegant solution. When that happens, I will put the spare tire carrier back on and move the spare underneath. It should fit fine as I have been carrying a 31" spare around. When I bought the 33x10.5R15 ATs, I opted to only buy 4 vs. 5.

 

[Napster]

Great build! Thanks for documenting and posting all this helpful information. I had no idea there was a torsion bar for the tail gate! I don't think mine is actually assisting anymore...